The successfulness of the cluster depends on clearly defined strategies of regional businesses included in the cluster together with other partners. In its environment, the cluster concentrates not only companies but also universities, brokering organisations, local governments, and other public institutions. By its activities, the cluster supports the creation of basic preconditions for the creation of innovations. It stimulates the growth of sophisticated workforce, development of knowledge, information, and technologies in a given cluster industry. A result of the cluster’s development is the tendency to export not just products and services but also the intellectual capital and technologies. Within the cluster, businesses perceive customers’ needs more clearly. The clustering process itself is a process induced and led by the market, which means that the cluster is led and driven by companies within the cluster’s core, which, by their know-how and requirements for further development, define the direction and development of the cluster, while the developments inside are influenced by activities on markets.
Through the cluster, it is possible to achieve advantages for participating companies and organisations since:
- Their productivity increases on the basis of better access to specialized suppliers, knowledge, and information;
- More emphasis is laid on innovations since the emphasis is laid on the necessity to perfect in the process of manufacture and implementation of the product;
- The activity of the cluster helps to increase savings and reduces costs of cooperation between the participants;
- The cluster provides the participants with an opportunity to achieve exclusiveness in key areas, which brings success that would not be possible if they worked in an isolated way;
- Building of specific know-how opens new markets and reduces costs;
- Limitations are reduced and specialisation increases in smaller enterprises;
- The cluster interconnects diverse companies and organisations from different links of the value chain, which allows smaller actors to specialize and successfully compete with larger, vertically interconnected ones;
- The cluster’s activities increase the availability and rate of transfer of information and technologies as a result of the closeness of the actors, strong bonds between them and the highly competitive substance of the cluster;
- The strength and voice of smaller actors on the market increases, and the actors are able to influence developments in the relevant market segment through the created network;
- There is no optimum solution for building up a cluster that would suit all actors on the market, but there is enough information and experience from already functioning clusters in the world and also at home on which a professional base of a specific industry or region can be built.
Vision and mission of the cluster organisation
The vision of the EKPK cluster is to achieve the highest effects for the cluster participants and regions within the given technological, industrial, regional and legislative framework through excellent management. The cluster management wants to confirm this vision by certification of its quality system according to STN EN ISO 9001 and by ECEI marking and benchmarking process certification for clusters.
The main principles of the introduced quality system in the organisation are:
- We act to achieve effective communication with the customer and thorough identification of his requirements and expectations;
- By laboratory measurements and professional analysis of obtained data, we provide individual approach to the solution of every job, while respecting the customer’s needs and possibilities;
- By active selection of professionally competent external providers of goods, works, and services, we secure the meeting of the EKPK’s requirements on quality;
- With our own professional base and effective internal communication and team work, we build our own know-how;
- Continuous professional growth of our experts, effective motivation of employees towards quality, and personal responsibility for the quality of work of every employee who conducts work under the EKPK’s management, form the substance of our work, while the EKPK management claims responsibility for the creation of conditions for its quality performance;
- Educational activities of the cluster, such as increasing employees’ professional education, creates a precondition for their satisfaction and effective work;
- Solving professional tasks, monitoring and evaluation of the performance and effectiveness of the quality management system is a guarantee of the EKPK’s goodwill.
Setting of the cluster’s objectives with regard to innovations in a given industry and the region
The EKPK’s objective is to capture and maintain the current direction of development in the field of energy, specifically by the use of renewable energy sources and the building of own know-how. The share of renewable sources in the energy balance, depending on the overall potential in Slovakia, is low and does not correspond to our conditions. A significant change can be achieved with effective energy management through the knowledge of phenomena, activities, and processes with the help of solutions to research tasks and the verification of declared procedures. The fact is that there is no lack of natural resources but that there is foremost the lack of other factors is the reason of low use of renewable sources. Professional public of the Prešov Self-Governing Region is united in a view that renewable sources in our country should contribute more to cover energy and fuel consumption.
In accordance with the EKPK association’s statutes, the following objectives have been set for the performance of activities:
- Secure coordination and management activities for project focuses in the implementation of renewable resources and low-carbon technologies;
- Support activities and assist the development of green energy in science, research, energy savings, and energy revaluation of waste;
- Organize cooperation with foreign partner organisations;
- Secure the creation and implementation of projects and programmes in the field of green energy and environmental technologies for EKPK members;
- Secure cooperation between energy companies and EKPK members;
- Implement trainings and marketing activities in the field of green energy;
- Organize professional training, in particular in the field of technology transfer and support of regional development;
- Create conditions for the entry of new investors in the field of green innovations;
- Secure direct transfer of own scientific and research activities for companies and organisations that are members of the EKPK;
- Cooperate with school-establishing authorities and schools in the directing of teaching in the context of requirements of the practice and comprehensive interconnection of education with the needs of employers;
- Coordinate cooperation in the fields of marketing, financing, and searching for new perspective markets for companies and organisations that are members and cooperating entities of the EKPK;
- Search for and use the opportunity to spend funds for development projects in the region from EU structural funds and other public and private sources;
- Search for new investment opportunities in the region;
- Cooperate with regional development agencies and innovation centres;
- Cooperate with domestic and foreign businesses and partner institutions on sustainable development of the energy industry of the region and the development of local energy concepts and strategies in the territory of Prešov Region;
- Provide consulting activities;
- Implement publishing activities;
- Organize conferences, workshops, excursions, seminars, etc.;
Implementation of the strategy – Action Plan
Activities to achieve the set objectives of the strategy
On the basis of audits carried out in the cluster, activities were set to improve the performance of the cluster towards excellency. Individual steps were specified to achieve the set objective.
STRENGTHENING OF THE CLUSTER’S STRUCTURE
- Widening of the cluster’s participants
- Use of the potential of regional growth
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MANAGEMENT, STRATEGY, AND FINANCING
- Maintain the management quality according to ISO 9001
- Build up professional capacity in the form of work-legal relations
- Widen the expert capacity by the use of mutual relations between members and partners of the cluster
- Improve and develop human resources of the cluster through education
- Develop cross-border co-operation of the cluster
DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUSTER
- Production management and provision of services
- Positioning of the brand
- Research, development, and innovations
- Development of business
- Development of human resources
- Development of business
- Support of the development of policies
- Internationalization of the cluster’s members
The complete wording of the cluster strategy is available at: Original EKPK Development Strategy, AS AMENDED in 2020
